pass the man behind the murder - we'll tell you about the man who authorities say opened fire at lax airport, and why he contacted his family beforehand. >> targetting the taliban - this man was the most wanted man in pakistan. a u.s. drone strike killed him. more on the operation and why the c.i.a. was coming for him. >> plus, day of the dead. astech and catholic rituals come together as families celebrate their loved ones.

>> hello, welcome to al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm morgan radford. operations at los angeles international airport are slowly getting back to normal after a man opened fire with an assault rifle. one tsa agent is dead. the suspect is in custody, hospitalized after being shot by airport police. >> brian rooney is at lax with more on the shooting that is creating panic and chaos. >> the airport has been reopening, from a traffic jam. virtually nothing took off or landed all day long at lax. 750 flights were affected. in the last couple of hours we learnt a few more details about what happened earlier today. >> cell phone video caught the moment when travellers ran for the directors doors to get away from the gunman.

>> he was identified as paul ciancia from new jersey, saying he pulled an assault rifle out of the bag and began to shoot at the tsa screening station, and seemed to be targetting employees. >> fired 20 yards away from the escalators. he was looking down, shooting. 10 plus shots, multiple shots towards the escalator. >> airport officers followed paul ciancia to the end of the terminal, where he was shot and seriously injured. >> an individual came into terminal 3 of the airport, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to hope fire. >> local authorities say it could have been worse. there were additional rounds. the fact that the officers neutralised the threat as they did, there were more than 100

more rounds that could have killed everyone in the terminal. >> the tsa officer, the first to die in the line of duty was declared dead at ronald regan hospital where several of the dead were taken. police scoured the area to make sure of no other dangers. 750 flights were affected. some never left lax, others never left other cities. passengers streamed out of lax, pulling luggage, looking for transportation and hotels. >> we are trying to find a rental car place. when they let us go, we'll go. >> there were reports paul ciancia told his family he was unhappy. investigators have not confirmed a motive for the shooting, that puts the focus on the safety of airports and travel. >> later in the day the transportation security administration identified the dead officer as gerardo i. hernandez, he was 39 years old.

>> paul ciancia's parents live in pennsville new jersey. on friday the police chief told reporters that paul ciancia's father received disturbing text messages. the message hinted that he was thinking about suicide. neighbours from the community expressed shock. >> it's tragic. you know, who would have thought anything like this would happen to a quiet neighbourhood, people that grow up, new people and the world - in a rural community such as pennsville, a quiet community - i mean, i know the family and his parents and father. i just - my heart goes out to them. >> i'm shocked that there's anyone outside here. i would never think of anyone around here doing anything like that. no, i'm completely shocked that you are here. we heard helicopters outside, and didn't know what was going on. >> the pennsville police department said officers had no

past problems with paul ciancia. neighbours said he came from a good, nice family. >> the most wanted man in pakistan now dead. eyewitness reports are coming outs about the drone strike that reportedly killed the leader of the pakistani taliban. hakimullah mehsud's body was damaged but recognisable after a u.s. drone hit his car. hakimullah mehsud was believed to have been behind a suicide mission in afghanistan that killed seven c.i.a. agents and a car bombing in new york's time square. we have more. >> as leader of the pakistani taliban, he was the most wanted man in pakistan. the u.s. had a $5 million bounty on his head. this is one of hakimullah mehsud's last public appearances. in a video filmed in an unknown location he speaks to those that consider talks as a way of achieving peace. >> we have never refused

negotiations. we believe in all talks that are serious. but if the dialogue is frivolous and they ask us to lay down arms, this is not serious dialogue. >> hakimullah mehsud took over as leader of the pakistani taliban in august 2009. he won a power struggle after another was killed in a drone attack. >> only in his late 20s or early 30, hakimullah mehsud's rise to power was dramatic. his power base numbered 8,000 fighters, and when he took command pakistani intelligence sources say it grew to 20,000 fighters. hakimullah mehsud had a reputation as a brutal and violent man. he was someone who knew how to play the media. after false reports he was killed in a gun battle he held a news conference to set the record straight and talk about options for the u.s. and pakistan. >> translation: america had illegally captured afghanistan.

this is our top priority to end this and remove america from the soil of afghanistan. >> his leadership of the pakistani taliban led to an upsurge in violence, with a carry out across pakistan. it inclued the suicide bombing of the pearl continental hotel in peshawar in june 2009. there were attacks on convoice heading through the kyber pass into pakistan. pakistan's army took action against the taliban, hakimullah mehsud becoming public enemy number one. he taunted the u.s. - appearing in this video sitting next to a jordanian double agent and suicide bomber who killed seven c.i.a. agents in an attack in 2009. hakimullah mehsud's death came a day before peace talks from supposed to start between the pakistan government and the pakistan taliban.

>> the united nations says nearly 1,000 iraqis died in act attacks. most of them civilians. much of the violence is attributed to al-qaeda, which is exactly why iraq's prime minister came to the u.s. to personally ask president obama for help. mike viqueira explains why. >> it was their first face to face meeting in two years. it comes as iraq faces new threats and doubts over its stability. >> unfortunately al qaeda has still been active and has grown more active recently. so we had a lot of discussion about how we can work together to push back against that terrorist organization that operates not only in iraq, but also as a threat to the region and the united states. >> president obama and prime minister nouri al-maliki blame al qaeda for the surge in violence in iraq. >> translation: we have a common vision about all the

issues we discuss when it comes to diagnosing the return of terrorism, and how to counter terrorism. >> over the last year the security situation in iraq has taken a dramatic downturn. in october alone 979 iraqis were killed in terror attacks. 852 of them civilians. more than 7,000 died sings -- since the beginning of this year. nouri al-maliki is in washington asking for more american weapons to help in the fight, including apache helicopters. critics say it is not just al qaeda, but maliki who is partly to blame for the violence. the white house disagrees. >> you have repeatedly attributed the violence to al qaeda, others say prime minister nouri al-maliki mismanaged the situation, fostered sectarian strikes there that plagued iraq

for the course of the last 10 years. how do you respond to that? >> this is not the product of entree party or entree faction parties, it's al qaeda trying to destablilize iraq. >> a former u.s. ambassador to iraq is critical of nouri al-maliki's leadership. >> the underlying problem is iraq has the kurds, the sunni arabs and the shi'a arabs and politicians play this card in dealing with security problems and national problems. despite that, the mistakes of nouri al-maliki, the country remains a constitutional democracy and has not collapsed under the weight of the horrific terrorist attacks. >> president obama is pushing nouri al-maliki to hold elections to bring the country back to its political use. nouri al-maliki assures him it will be held next year.

>> the obama administration says it will have 7 million people signed up for health care by march 2014. to do that they'll have to pick up the pace. according to new documents released by congressional investigators only six people signed up on day one of the website. 248 on day two. official numbers of how many people signed up could be released this month. >> speaking of insurance, if you are one of 14 million americans who bought your own, it could get cancel. >> erin is a self-employed scin care therapist, wife and mother of two. she had the same insurance policy the past couple of years. she was happy, until she found out she was losing it. >> i was shocked, to tell you the truth. i don't think i was clear or maybe the president was not transparent on what was going to happen with the current plan. i had no plan to change.

>> erin doesn't have her letter at the salon, but that's okay because i have mine. i got mine in mid september saying come december 31st, my health care plan will no longer be available. >> mark is a vaet ran corporate -- veteran corporate advisor, on the board at the health and community services when it put the act together. hatcher says the cancellations make sense, because many current policies don't meet the sense benefit requirements under the affordable care act. so insurers have to get rid of them and offer new ones. >> for a lot of people their plans will renew. they'll see higher premiums because there are other premiums. it's not all bad news for those losing current coverage. people have higher premiums because of pre-existing conditions could see premiums plum it. you have an individual paying

$1200. going now into january 1st, it will be 400 a month. the problem - they can't get through the healthcare.gov to enrol. >> erin did get through. and she didn't like what she saw. the cheapest plan was $60 more a month than what she has now. >> none of my doctors were on the plan, none of my facilities were on the plan. we are not having more children so i don't need maternity. there's a lot of things i'm not getting, but i'm paying more for. >> cox hopes understand the affordable care act her camly does not -- family doesn't have to make a choice of paying the health care payment or her mortgage payment. >> well, the storm you see here caused a lot of problems in texas. we saw flooding and a lot of delays in the airports as well

as major wind damage across the north-east. a lot of that weather is pushing to the atlantic. what is coming in behind it for many is cooler weather. up to the north-west things are beginning to change. we have an air of low pressure out in the pacific. it is coming on sure. for seattle this is what your forecast looks lick. we'll see rain saturday, sunday, monday - maybe a break on tuesday. that will last only one day. then we are back to rain again. textures for you into the mid '50s or low '50s. to the south-west - it will be beautiful. high pressure is dominating. there's no clouds at all. down towards los angeles, beautiful weather there. 77 degrees today. over towards sunday, 68. the temperatures are moderate, going up to 79 by the time we get towards midweek. we had a lot of bad flooding that occurred in texas, up to 14 inches of rain falling to the south-west of austin. that has cleared out.

we'll see better weather from many locations, and the cooler temperatures are transcripting to the south. dallas only getting to a high of 69. san antonio nice at 75. it will be towards next week before any more rain comes into play. you stee the highest temperatures in -- see the highest temperatures in dallas will be the high 60. to the south-east - there's the rain. atlanta temperatures of 69. all the way through the forecast you'll be rain free, but look on monday, high temperatures of 59. >> skipping class - school officials in one alaska district are having trouble getting students to show up. so the teachers are offering a big prize - we'll tell you why it's controversial - coming up.

battle at the border. turkish police fired tear gas at

a crowd of demonstrators protesting the construction of a wall along the turkish-syrian orders. the government was accused of discriminating against kurdish families on both sides of the border. >> the man known as egypt's john stuart has been pulled off the tv. it was pulled off air after mocking the egyptian army, it was yanked minutes before going to air. it had only been on for a week. he had become popular for jabs at claude moraes, the egyptian president what was off theed in july. >> marriage on the rocks - the hawaii state senate agreed to stall a vote on gay marriage. the house was supposed to vote on friday.

as many as 4,000 turned up to testify, delaying final votes. if pass said hawaii will become the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. >> wedding bells toll. two maled graduates will become the first same-sex couple to marry at the westpoint academy today. westpoint hosted same-sex weddings - two female couples were married there last year shortly after new york legalized same-sex marriage. >> anyone with kids knows the temptation to bribe them in order to behave. in alaska one school district is doing that to get students to come to class. not everyone is on board. >> there was a different kind of early morning buzz this year in anchorage schools. more hustle at aj diamond high. perfect attendance suddenly means a little more. >> yes, kids are talking about it, community members are talking about it - i hear on

talk radio constantly. >> they are talking about a $20,000 free car, a 4-wheel drive prize for being here every day. >> are free car, that's a reason to get out of the bed and come to school. >> only juniors and seniors like carley and nicky have a chance, and winning is not a teenage pie in the sky fantasy. what are the odds. they are not that bad. there are 3250 seniors and seniors. last year 182 had perfect attend tans. >> perfect means perfect. no missed school days for any reason. that gets you into a drawing for the free wheels donated by local autodealer troy jarvis. he admits it's a good advertising gimmick, but hopes incentivizing attendants will teach kids a lesson - outside the classroom in the real world of work - you have to show up.

>> over the last 10 years there has been a decline in reliabilitiy, work ethic. in the school we see the same thing. we sending a message that this is what it will be like in the workforce, you need to be at scoo. >> the not quite perfect kids can win prizes. other businesses offer pizza, hock hockey tickets, family holiday packages. >> why do we threaten or chastise a family for not coming to school. let's give it a positive spin and reward them. >> some students are not sure it's a good idea - getting rewarded for doing what they should do anyway. >> in a way it's pathetic that we have to have a car to come to school. >> then again. >> yes, i think i'd look cute in a jeep. >> maybe this will make more of

this happen in anchorage schools. >> bad news for ford. they are recalling 2600 focus electric cars made between 2012 and 2014. ford says the wheels could lose power while you are driving, blaming software problems. >> gm is betting the future on electric cars. the competition is heating up as goerts battles with tessler motors. the latest hybrid to roll off general motors assembly line is the cada lack elr. analysts say detroit's innovation is sparked in part from pressure from silicon valley. home to tessler motors. >> they are competing against tessler, because they have a vehicle with the best range for an electric vehicle, and they

are a benchmark. >> the next challenge is to move into the lower range of price for a vehicle. this is something that they are working on. >> that is where gm is trying to out tes ler, tes ler, with plans for a car in the price range of $25,000. as tiny tessler drives the high-end mark, the higher model goes for $71,000. gm is stealing for the middle of the road with hybrids, and chevie impalais running on gas. >> the market is broader than we anticipated. so we are trying to come up with different product offerings to cover that broader spectrum of what the market is after. >> this is general motors first big bet on the electric vehicle industry. the chev roe lay vote came out in 2010. it will back up the gas-powered engine. the company is making the

smashing-e-v in korea. when they make that gamble on electric vehicles, they are no longer an niche business. gm is hedging bets on a hyde brid vehicle. the volt matches tessler's 480 range, but only with a full tank of petrol, making it 60km on electricity before the fuel-powered engine kicks in. tessler can refuel an empty car in half an hour compared to 6 hours. >> gm will offer fast charging on a spark later this year. it's still a step behind tessler. analysts say for a full-line manufacturer like gm, that's fine. >> they look at what can they do now or what do they need to do. is it okay to say, "it's okay for tessler to take a lead."

it's not like they are taking all the sales out there. >> gm will forsake the need for speed as long as it wins the popularity contest. >> still ahead - day of the dead. the mexican holiday that honours loved ones that passed away.

it's a celebration that begins the same evening as halloween. but it's a tradition entirely of its own. we are told about the day of the dead. >> it's a legend that still sends chills through mexicans nearly half a millennium later. a tragic tale of what happened when this country was concurred by spain. re-enacted every year on the banks of the canal where the aztec empire once stood. one indigenous woman enslaved

decides to kill her own children, rather then give them up. frantic with guilt she drowns herself. >> translation: she's an integral part of the mexican culture. we have heard her cry at least once. we tell her story so she's not forgotten and when people hear her wal they are not frightened, but try to understand her pain. >> the waler spends the rest of eternity screaming, remind k americans of the pain and suffering during -- mexicans. pain and suffering during the spanish conquest. a hunting tale performed around the day of the dead, when mexicans honour loved ones no longer living >> translation: in mexico there's insecurity. the only certainty is death. it's important to preserve the tradition. >> now the mexico ski government is trying to protect the ledgened, making it part of the

country's cultural inheritance. a move many welcome. imented the only way to preserve the traditions >> they are beautiful traditions. mexicans will here the haunting, welcoming cry next year. >> the day of the dead is not just celebrated in mexico. in fact, it's not only becoming more popular in the u.s., but in guatemala, brazil and spain. >> meanwhile in mexico they are trying to tackle a problem of obesity. rates are higher than the u.s., which prompted lawmakers to pass a junk food tax. the mexican congress approved the tax on salty and sugary junk food, charging 8% tax on foods that are 275 call lis or more. the mexican president is encouraging people to exercise

an hour a day. i'm morgan radford. see you again at 4am eastern.